


Like Magic

by truethingsproved



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Crossover, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 14:59:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1652771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truethingsproved/pseuds/truethingsproved
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You should have come to the meeting."</p><p>"Potter 2.0 kicked me out, remember?" Grantaire points out. It would sound nonchalant to anyone else but Marius knows him, knows the undercurrent of hurt in his voice well enough to know that Enjolras kicking him out stings more than he's ever willing to admit.</p><p>With a frown, Marius shakes his head. "You know he didn't mean the things he said--"</p><p>"Marius." Marius pauses, and Grantaire sighs. "Marius, he told me that I was a waste of potential and that if I wasn't going to actually help--because the only thing I'm good for, apparently, is knowing how to do things, but such is the life of a Ravenclaw, I suppose, the only thing of any value is my intellect and even that is suspect to our golden god--I should stop wasting everybody's time, but especially his."</p><p>"Cosette ripped him a new one after you left," Marius says softly. "And to be fair you were antagonizing him."</p><p>"I can take a hint, Marius," Grantaire insists stubbornly, and Marius sighs and takes his friend's fork again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Magic

"Hogwarts royalty deigns to waste their time among the lowly common folk? Someone wake me, for I'm surely dreaming." Grantaire stands and bows dramatically as Marius approaches. Marius rolls his eyes and snickers, sitting down across from Grantaire, ignoring the looks he's getting from the other Ravenclaws. It's certainly not unheard of for older students to sit at other Houses' tables in the Great Hall, but the Slytherins are usually assumed to keep to themselves.

Except for Marius Pontmercy, mockingly appointed the Slytherin Prince, whose only real princely qualities are his loveliness (and the green of the House does wonders paired with freckles and kind eyes) and his smile. He and Grantaire became friends almost instantly when paired together in Charms their first year, and since then Marius has shown no real qualms about being the sole Slytherin at a table of Ravenclaws, or letting Grantaire sneak him into the Ravenclaw dorms.

Though to be fair it's more often Grantaire sneaking into the Slytherin common room; he's not met a password he can't guess.

"We missed you at the meeting today," Marius says, reaching across to Grantaire's plate familiarly to help himself to a bite of Grantaire's pie; Grantaire surrenders his fork without a thought and shrugs.

He doesn't meet Marius' eye when he asks, "What was Enjolras banging on about this time? Is he still saying we need to push for Ministry reform that gives us the direct election of the Minister, blah blah blah, authoritarian state stripping its people of any and all semblance of freedom, et cetera et cetera?"

"So you  _do_  pay attention," Marius quips, and Grantaire snickers and taps his head with his middle finger.

"I don't think I could get that prat's complaints out of my head if I tried," he answers honestly. It's not just that it's his nature, as a Ravenclaw with absolutely no inclination to work, to remember everything he can the first time he hears or reads it; Grantaire has never made much of a secret for the way he feels about Enjolras.

Marius holds the fork out for Grantaire to take again and sighs. "You should have come to the meeting."

"Potter 2.0 kicked me out, remember?" Grantaire points out. It would sound nonchalant to anyone else but Marius knows him, knows the undercurrent of hurt in his voice well enough to know that Enjolras kicking him out stings more than he's ever willing to admit.

With a frown, Marius shakes his head. "You know he didn't mean the things he said--"

"Marius." Marius pauses, and Grantaire sighs. "Marius, he told me that I was a waste of potential and that if I wasn't going to actually help--because the only thing I'm good for, apparently, is knowing how to do things, but such is the life of a Ravenclaw, I suppose, the only thing of any value is my intellect and even  _that_  is suspect to our golden god--I should stop wasting everybody's time, but especially his."

"Cosette ripped him a new one after you left," Marius says softly. "And to be fair you were antagonizing him."

"I can take a hint, Marius," Grantaire insists stubbornly, and Marius sighs and takes his friend's fork again.

\------

Eponine Thenardier could be in the Slytherin common room right now, catching up on her homework and finishing up on the book Montparnasse loaned her. She could be sneaking into the kitchens with her little brother to get food. She could be doing any number of things.

Instead, she's keeping watch while Cosette sneaks into one of the secret passages that's been boarded up to open it again.

"Come on," Cosette hisses, and Eponine slips into the passage after her friend. Cosette is an absolute terror of a Gryffindor, and it's a surprise to everyone, it seems. They'd all expected that shy, sweet Cosette with her ribbons and braids and curls would stay shy and sweet and were shocked to discover that once she got used to her surroundings, Cosette had yet to meet a rule she liked to keep. She kept herself out of trouble for her father's sake and no one else's; all the same, she didn't do anything she wasn't alright with doing, even for her father's sake. His reaction upon learning that she was seriously dating a Slytherin boy had been to try and separate them but she'd held firm.

Eponine's always wondered if her growing affection for Cosette is merely an extension of her outright adoration of Marius, and it seems unfair to her that she feels this way about Cosette only in relation to the boy they both love. But she truly does like Cosette, her small hands and her wide eyes and her easy smile, the way she always smells of freesia and plums. She's wondered more than once if her lips are as soft as they look and she always forces herself not to flinch back in shame at the idea.

It's not that she's uncomfortable with the idea of it, but rather that it might only be a response to wanting Marius still.

Cosette, she thinks, deserves better than to be liked only because of Marius.

Cosette squeezes past Eponine, steadying herself with a hand on her friend's waist, to grab the bag she'd left outside the passage before closing them both in. The only light is from a small blue flame in a jar, and it lights both their faces beautifully.

Clearing her throat quietly, Cosette falls silent before blurting out, "Marius likes you, you know."

It might be an accusation but there seems to be an undercurrent of something that might be hope, unless Eponine is completely wrong. "Oh."

There's another pause, and then, "Oh, Eponine, I've got it all wrong, haven't I? I said I'd talk to you about it but I should have let Marius--he was so sure you would say yes and look at me, I've ruined our friendship now, haven't I?"

"Cosette." Eponine takes her hand as she tries to move farther down the passage, her cheeks burning. This can't actually be what she thinks it is. "What are you talking about?"

Clearing her throat again Cosette lets it out in a rush, sounding nervous. "He's not the only one who likes you, you know. I told him that I--that I kept thinking about you and how I couldn't stop it, and he said  _well, why stop it?_  and I know you've been interested in him forever and it's probably one-sided on my part but I guess we just--wanted to extend an invitation." Another pause. "Not just for once, either. I mean, regularly. And in every way."

The hand on Eponine's waist starts to float away until Eponine's got Cosette pressed against the wall of the passage, and yes, her lips  _are_  as soft as Eponine's imagined.

\------

If there is one thing Enjolras hates most, it's not being able to go wherever he wants.

The House system is utter bullshit, as far as he's concerned; it applies unnecessary restrictions and limitations upon other students, forces them into familiarity with people they may not have chosen otherwise and may be uncomfortable with, and creates a false sense of rivalry between the Houses which predisposes younger children to develop long-lasting House-based prejudices.

So when he  _wants_  to go to the Ravenclaw dorms and talk to Grantaire he has to stand outside the Ravenclaw common room for half an hour arguing with the door first. The door never gives in and lets him in, but another student always gets sick of the noise and lets him into the common room. Works every time.

Tonight, though, Jehan just steps out tiredly, toying with his braid over his shoulder and shifting his weight from foot to foot. "He's not here," he says simply.

"You don't even know who I was--"

"Grantaire, you were looking for Grantaire, and he's not here, Enjolras, he's in the Slytherin dorms."

"Right." Enjolras pauses and then nods, slipping out of the hall to head down to the dungeons, calling a soft "thank you" over his shoulder.

He  _would_  repeat the process with the Slytherin common room, except that Musichetta is standing there, kissing Joly and Bossuet goodbye. "Enjolras!" she calls cheerfully, waving him over as her boyfriends grin and nod their hellos. She's all long, lithe limbs and a tumble of dark curls, beautiful in a way that shouldn't strictly be possible. When he reaches her, she hugs him with one arm, smiling a smile that could probably drive someone to do some very, very reckless things for her sake.

"Any chance I can convince you to let me in?" he asks, and she raises one eyebrow and nods.

"What's in it for me?" she purrs as Joly and Bossuet leave, hand in hand. She leans against the portrait and drags her teeth across her bottom lip, and he sighs.

"I'll do your History of Magic homework next week," he offers, and she laughs, shaking her head.

"You don't have to do a damn thing, darling," she giggles, giving the password. The portrait swings open disapprovingly, and she leaves him at the hall leading to the boys' dormitories.

\------

Gavroche likes to spend his evenings exploring the castle. As the sole Gryffindor in a family of Slytherins, he's taken it upon himself to get into all the right kinds of trouble. Tonight, though, he's got a pack of food (nicked from the kitchens, if you can count the house elves shoving food into his arms "nicking") in his lap and he's sitting outside the Potions room, waiting for Grantaire to get out of detention.

As soon as the door opens Gavroche is up, bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning, waiting for Grantaire. He hears Professor Greengrass speaking, sounding amused, something like "...ing the work would be grand, but not blowing it up would be better, so if I can only have one from you I'll take the lack of explosions." There's a pause, then, "though I think you're more than capable of both."

Grantaire's laugh is easy and rings with a geniality one wouldn't expect from someone so apathetic and cynical. "Whatever you say," he sing-songs, and Professor Greengrass just snorts with laughter as he walks out the door, his bag slung over his shoulder and his lips still curled up in a smile.

When he sees Gavroche, his smile only grows, and he holds his arm out to throw around the first-year's shoulders. "Were you waiting for me, squirt?" he asks, and Gavroche shrugs and grins, holding the pack of food out. Grantaire takes it with an odd sort of smile, as if he's surprised by the kindness, and musses Gavroche's hair affectionately before crouching down so that Gavroche can climb on his back.

"You weren't at the meeting," Gavroche says as Grantaire stands, the younger boy's legs around his waist and arms around his neck, Grantaire's arms hooked under his knees to keep him supported as they walk. He's trying to sound accusing, but mostly just sounds disappointed; he doesn't have a brother, and upon coming to Hogwarts, almost immediately took to Grantaire, clinging to him somewhat. And Grantaire definitely doesn't mind--they'd bonded in detention, of all places, and anyone who can raise that much hell at eleven is someone Grantaire wants to know--but he does sometimes worry about what Gavroche will do without him when he graduates.

"Nah. Figured I'd take the hint." Grantaire shrugs, trying to pretend it doesn't bother him, and Gavroche, bless him, doesn't push. Sometimes Grantaire wonders if he should be spending the bulk of his time with Gavroche--he never pushes, never pries, never asks questions, just accepts that this is how Grantaire is, and that's okay.

It's a bit exhausting, that one of the only people Grantaire can feel at ease with is five years younger than him, and if he's being honest it makes him feel kind of pathetic, but Grantaire shuts up and deals with it, because it's probably his fault anyway.

(He can practically hear Cosette and Marius insisting that it's not, but he ignores them.)

Gavroche just rests his chin on Grantaire's shoulder, clicks his teeth, and says, "I hope you come next time."

Grantaire pretends like this doesn't make tears spring to his eyes.

\------

Cosette keeps bumping the back of her hand against Eponine's, as if she's too nervous to take her hand outright. Eponine can't really blame her; her head is spinning, and she's reeling a bit from their conversation in the passage earlier. To be fair, it was less of a conversation and more of Cosette gasping into Eponine's mouth, fingers laced together and hands wrapped in hair. All in all, a generally good state of affairs, and a much nicer way of spending the evening than Eponine had expected.

They fit nicely together, and Eponine hadn't been expecting that so much--then again, she didn't even know that Cosette liked girls at all. She's not sure how this will work out, if they want to keep their relationship with her quiet, or if they want to risk the whispering and staring that had followed Joly, Bossuet and Musichetta for, literally, years, since they all got together in fourth year.

Finally, Cosette slides her hand into Eponine's, holding it tightly. "Would it be okay if I came back to the Slytherin dorms with you? I think we should fill Marius in."

 _Marius._  Eponine had almost forgotten about him entirely, but the mention of his name sets a strange warmth in her chest, rather than the nervous butterflies she's used to. Cosette's hand is a soft, warm weight in hers, and Eponine bites her lip and flashes Cosette a crooked grin.

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Eponine chews the inside of her cheek, trying to make sense of everything. "When you said, in every sense, what did you mean?"

"If you're okay with it, we don't just want this to be a one-time thing, and we don't just want it to be about fooling around," Cosette explains, far more at ease now that she's spent the evening pausing in her work to lean over and kiss Eponine until they both tumbled back onto the floor, laughing and sighing and arching into each other.

"Like what Musichetta has with Joly and Bossuet?"

"Exactly like that," Cosette confirms, squeezing Eponine's hand reassuringly. "We should have asked you about this a long,  _long_  time ago."

"How long have you been wanting to?" Eponine asks suddenly, and Cosette blushes, mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like  _since fifth year_ , and looks down, trying to hide her nervous grin.

"It's just," Cosette says, sounding shy all over again, "I knew you liked him--how could you not, I mean, he's just so, I don't know, Marius--but I had no idea if you liked me at all, let alone like this, or if it was just out of respect for Marius, and I--" she pauses, bites nervously at her fingernails, before finishing, "I wanted to make sure I wouldn't ruin anything with either of you. You're too important for that."

Eponine can't help but beam at that. It's a good thing that the corridor is empty, because suddenly she's got her hands on Cosette's hips while the dainty girl drapes her arms over Eponine's shoulders, her wrists crossed at the back of her neck.

Cosette tastes of rainfall and gentle breezes, Eponine of the silent and cold calm of winter.

\------

Enjolras wastes no time in heading to Marius' dorm. He's been there frequently enough--even though he and Marius disagree more often than not they're still friends, and Enjolras is fond of him almost in spite of himself. If Grantaire is here, that's where he'll be.

Except Marius is alone in the dormitory, stretched out on his bed and yawning, a book in his lap and an apple in his hand. He starts when he sees Enjolras, frowns, stands.

"He's not here," Marius says, setting the book down carefully so as to save his page, and Enjolras sighs.

"You know, nobody ever asks me who I'm looking for," he points out. "For all you know I was hoping to find you."

"Oh." Marius raises his eyebrows and his expression smooths over, and he smiles cheerfully. "What did you need, Enjolras?"

"No, I'm not looking for you. Grantaire's not here?"

Marius shakes his head, picks up his book again, and sits down, swinging his legs back up to his bed. He seems to be straddling the line between nervousness and a practiced sort of arrogance that one can only really achieve by surrounding yourself during your formative years by people like Marius' grandfather, obscenely rich and haughty. "You were hard on him, you know," he insists. "And I know he can be absolutely insufferable sometimes--trust me, I know, he's my best friend--but you don't need to be as hard on him as you are. And don't  _say_  that you're being hard on him to help him. The tough love excuse is ridiculous. You should show him a little compassion."

"Marius."

"Don't interrupt me, I'm serious. You really need to apologize."

" _Marius._ "

"What?"

"I'm looking for him so I  _can_  apologize." Enjolras lifts one blond eyebrow, the corner of his mouth tugging up in a crooked smile. "Do you know where he is?"

"Oh." Marius' voice is suddenly very small, and he shrugs. "He's probably getting out of detention right now. I know he was planning to come by here later, but..." His voice trails off completely, and he flushes underneath his freckles, biting the inside of his cheek. "Sorry," he adds, his flush deepening, and Enjolras lets out a soft chuckle.

Nodding, he turns towards the door, to check the halls or just wait outside the Ravenclaw common room, but before he leaves he pauses, glances over his shoulder, and adds, as gently as he ever does, "He's lucky he's got you, you know."

Marius lifts his chin defiantly and says, "He's really not," he insists, before saying, "But he shouldn't have antagonized you. He's pretty awful sometimes and he was being really rude."

"You defend him anyway?" Enjolras asks, his crooked smile growing, and Marius shrugs.

"He's my best mate," he answers, as if it's the simplest thing in the world, and Enjolras' laugh is gentle but fond as he leaves.

\------

Grantaire leaves Gavroche at the portrait of the Fat Lady. Since meeting and befriending Eponine's little brother, the Fat Lady's become inordinately fond of him, and anyone he cares about, and so when Grantaire gets there the Fat Lady greets him with a wide smile and swings open without waiting for the password.

"How are you, dear, are you eating enough? You know how I worry. You always look so pale and tired. And with Christmas coming up, I  _do_  hope you have enough time to study and to take care of yourself."

Flashing her a cheeky grin, Grantaire squats down so Gavroche can climb off his back, mussing the younger boy's hair when he stands. "I'm alright. Thanks. I'll make sure I do. How've you been?"

The Fat Lady is about to answer as Gavroche scurries into the dorm. She stops, however, when she sees a head of blond curls behind him, and instead she swings shut, smiling warmly, if wickedly, at Grantaire, before stepping out of frame (though Grantaire can see her peeking in from another portrait, as if she's waiting for something, but waiting for  _what_ \--)

"Grantaire?"

The whole world goes black for a second as Grantaire squeezes his eyes shut.  _This is not happening,_  he tells himself wildly, but he opens his eyes and turns around.

It is happening. Enjolras is standing there, lips parted in surprise, hair tousled, and Grantaire is trying to figure out how he can possibly escape this when Enjolras steps closer and brings his hand up to curl around Grantiare's arm gently, kindly.

"I'd like for us to talk."

\------

When Marius and Eponine walk Cosette back to her dorm, each of them is holding one of her hands, and Marius looks half delirious with happiness. They're so caught up in themselves, in each other, that they almost manage not to notice Grantaire and Enjolras sitting on the floor, leaned against the wall with their arms linked and their heads close together as they laugh and whisper like the teenagers they are.

Marius suppresses a smile at the sight. "Everything worked out, then?" he asks, and Grantaire just salutes him before returning to his conversation with Enjolras. Grantaire will find him later and fill him in--he always does.

If the two boys see that Cosette kisses Marius goodbye and then all but flings herself into a laughing Eponine's arms to kiss her just as enthusiastically, they don't comment, granting them whatever privacy they can without outright leaving. Cosette flits away into the common room, graceful as ever, and Marius holds his hand out for Eponine.

She takes it, shyly, smiling as though she's not quite sure what to do, and Marius squeezes her hand before pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. "Are you happy?" he asks, very quietly, and she flushes and nods and he doesn't think he's ever seen her look so genuinely content.

When they start to head back to the Slytherin dorms, Marius shoots a glance over his shoulder to see Enjolras lacing his fingers tentatively into Grantaire's.

Grantaire's smile could light the room.

Marius leaves them in peace.

**Author's Note:**

> HI FRIENDS.
> 
> gosh, i missed les mis. i missed it a lot.
> 
> tomorrow's my birthday (I'M GETTING OLD!) and so i opened up prompts on my blog. this has been hanging out in my drafts forfuckingever, and so when someone asked for a hogwarts au of les mis i was like WELP, TIME TO FINISH. so here we have it.
> 
> i'm susanspevensie on tumblr and you're always more than welcome to drop in, say hey, tell me i'm an ass, whatever floats yer boat. but i do love prompts. yay for prompts!
> 
> for my wonderful darling friend charlotte (theprincessofcrete). love you bundles, sweet pea!


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